Ghana participates in Offshore Technology Conference

About 1,000 players in the oil and gas industry, government officials, geoscientists, engineers and business people are expected to participate in the four-day Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) described as the biggest in the 45-year history of the conference which opened last Monday in Houston, Texas, in the United States of America.

Ghana’s delegation to the conference is led by the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.

Other members of the high-powered delegation are the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah; the Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), officials of the Ministry of Energy and contractors in the oil and gas industry. Come Together

The 2014 conference brings together the world’s offshore talent to network and innovate for the future of the oil and gas industry.

The theme for the conference is, “Come Together”, the hit song on the last album of the Beatles released in 1969, the year the OTC was formed.

The four-day exhibition at the Reliant Park in Houston has items such as deep water drilling equipment, offshore machinery, gas processing equipment, water treatment plants and energy equipment on display. Shell

Ms Doreen Chin, an official of Shell and chairperson of the conference’s Technical Programme, said, “This year, as the OTC celebrates its 45th anniversary, it welcomes thousands of attendees from all over the world to Houston and pays homage to The Beatles and 1969 by using a No. 1 hit from the band’s Abbey Road album as its theme.”

“We provide the venue and unique opportunities for leaders, engineers, scientists, professionals, manufacturers, investors and entrepreneurs to come together to see the state of the art of our industry and explore new opportunities,” she added.

According Ms Chin, the conference was a community of professionals with common needs and challenges.

That global community represented more than 120 countries, Ms Chin said, making the OTC “the largest energy-related technology conference in the world. That is what makes this year’s theme, ‘Come Together’, so fitting.” Sessions

Mr Ed Stokes, the Chairman of the OTC, said the 45th milestone signified and confirmed the great vision that the people who created the OTC had in mind in the 1960s.

The Corporate Affairs Manager of Schlumberger SEACO Inc., Mr Sam Eshun, who is part of the Ghana delegation but working for the company in Accra, said the event was an eye opener, as it had on display most of the equipment needed in the industry.

“It is a one-stop shop for operators of the industry,” he said.

He said Schlumberger, with operations in more than 80 countries, was involved in deterring the commercial viability of wells drilled by exploring companies.